A tram (also known as tramcar; and in North America known as streetcar, trolley or trolley car), is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets (called street running), and also sometimes on separate rights of way.[1] The lines or networks operated by tramcars are called tramways. Tramways powered by electricity, which were the most common type historically, were once called electric street railways. However, trams were widely used in urban areas before the universal adoption of electrification and, thus, the other methods of powering trams is listed below under "History".

Tram lines may also run between cities and/or towns (for example, interurbans, tram-train), and/or partially grade-separated even in the cities (light rail). Very occasionally, trams also carry freight. Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than conventional trains and rapid transit trains, but the size of trams (particularly light rail vehicles) is rapidly increasing. Some trams (for instance tram-trains) may also run on ordinary railway tracks, a tramway may be upgraded to a light rail or a rapid transit line, two urban tramways may be connected to an interurban, etc.

For all these reasons, the differences between the various modes of rail transportation are often indistinct.

Today, most trams use electrical power, usually fed by an overhead pantograph; in some cases by a sliding shoe on a third rail, trolley pole or bow collector. If necessary, they may have dual power systems - electricity in city streets, and diesel in more rural environments.

The terms tram and tramway are derived from the Scots word tram,[3][publisher missing] referring respectively to a type of truck used in coal mines, and the tracks on which they ran. The word tram probably derived from Middle Flemish tram ("beam, handle of a barrow, bar, rung"), a North Sea Germanic word of unknown origin meaning the beam or shaft of a barrow or sledge, also the barrow itself. Tram-car is attested from 1873.[4]

Although the terms tram and tramway have been adopted by many languages, they are not used universally in English; North Americans prefer streetcar, trolley, or trolleycar. The term streetcar is first recorded in 1840, and originally referred to horsecars drawn by draft horses. When electrification came, Americans began to speak of trolleycars or later, trolleys. These terms are believed to derive from the troller (possibly from the words traveler and roller), a four-wheeled device that was dragged along dual overhead wires by a cable that connected the troller to the top of the car and collected electrical power from the overhead wires.[5]

The troller design frequently fell off the wires, and was soon replaced by the more reliable trolley pole. This newer device was fitted to the top of the car, and was spring-loaded in order to keep a small trolley wheel or alternately, a grooved lubricated "skate" mounted at the top of the pole, firmly in contact with the underside of the overhead wire. The terms trolley pole and trolley wheel both derive from the troller.[6] Trams using trolley-pole current collection are normally powered through a single pole, with return current earthed through the steel wheels and rails. Modern trams often have an overhead pantographmechanical linkage to connect to power, abandoning the trolley pole altogether.

In North America, trams are sometimes called trolleys, even though strictly this may be incorrect, and the term may even be applied to cable cars, or conduit cars that instead draw power from an underground supply. Conventional diesel tourist buses decorated to look like streetcars are sometimes called trolleys in the US (tourist trolley). Furthering confusion, the term tram has instead been applied to open-sided, low-speed segmented vehicles on rubber tires generally used to ferry tourists short distances, for example on the Universal Studios backlot tour.

Over time, the term trolley has fallen into informal use, and may be applied loosely to a wide variety of different vehicle types. The word has taken on a historic or picturesque connotation, and is often associated with tourist or leisure travel. In North America, professional or formal documents generally use more precise alternative terms, such as streetcar or light rail vehicle (LRV).

Although the use of the term trolley for tram was not adopted in Europe, the term was later associated with the trolleybus, a rubber-tyred vehicle running on hard pavement, which draws its power from pairs of overhead wires. These electric buses, which use twin trolley poles, are also called trackless trolleys (particularly in the northeastern US), or sometimes simply trolleys (in the UK, as well as in Seattle and Vancouver).

The very first tram was on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in south Wales, UK; it was horse-drawn at first, and later moved by steam and electric power. The Mumbles Railway Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1804, and the first tram (similar to streetcars in the US some 30 years later) started operating in 1807.[7]

The first streetcars, also known as horsecars in North America, were built in the United States and developed from city stagecoach lines and omnibus lines that picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route without the need to be pre-hired. These trams were an animal railway, usually using teams of horses and sometimes mules to haul the cars, usually two as a team. Occasionally other animals were put to use, or humans in emergencies. The first streetcar line, developed by Irish born John Stephenson, was the New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line which ran along The Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. Service began in 1832. It was followed in 1835 by New Orleans, Louisiana, which has the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world, according to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.[8]

In other world regions, the first tramway systems (all horse-drawn) were:

In many cases, these early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes or from the omnibus that first ran on public streets, using the newly invented iron or steel rail or 'tramway'. These were local versions of the stagecoach lines and picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route, without the need to be pre-hired. Horsecars on tramlines were an improvement over the omnibus as the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on iron or steel rails (usually grooved from 1852 on), allowed the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort than the omnibus and gave a smoother ride. The horse-drawn streetcar combined the low cost, flexibility, and safety of animal power with the efficiency, smoothness, and all-weather capability of a rail right-of-way.

The first mechanical trams were powered by steam. Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive (called a tram engine in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales; Munich, Germany (from August 1883 on),[9]Pakistan (from 1885) and the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway in Ireland. Steam tramways also were used on the suburban tramway lines around Milan and Padua; the last Gamba de Legn ("Peg-Leg") tramway ran on the Milan-Magenta-Castano Primo route in late 1958.[citation needed]

Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent the engines from emitting visible smoke or steam. Usually the engines used coke rather than coal as fuel to avoid emitting smoke; condensers or superheating were used to avoid emitting visible steam.

The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine or steam dummy. The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton, in the Australian state of Queensland between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm, Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm between 1887 and 1901.

A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered.

The next motive system for trams was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable. The power to move the cable was normally provided at a "powerhouse" site a distance away from the actual vehicle.

The first practical cable car line was tested in San Francisco, in 1873. Part of its success is attributed to the development of an effective and reliable cable grip mechanism, to grab and release the moving cable without damage. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin in New Zealand, from 1881 to 1957. From 1885 to 1940, the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia operated one of the largest cable systems in the world, at its peak running 592 trams on 75 kilometres (47 mi) of track. There were also two isolated cable lines in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; the North Sydney line from 1886 to 1900,[10] and the King Street line from 1892 to 1905.

In Dresden, Germany, in 1901 an elevated suspended cable car following the Eugen Langen one-railed floating tram system started operating. Cable cars operated on Highgate Hill in North London and Kennington to Brixton Hill In South London.[when?] They also worked around "Upper Douglas" in the Isle of Man[when?] (cable car 72/73 is the sole survivor of the fleet).

Cable tram dummy and trailer on the St. Kilda Line in Melbourne in 1905.

Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since an expensive system of cables, pulleys, stationary engines and lengthy underground vault structures beneath the rails had to be provided. They also required physical strength and skill to operate, and alert operators to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be disconnected ("dropped") at designated locations to allow the cars to coast by inertia, for example when crossing another cable line. The cable would then have to be "picked up" to resume progress, the whole operation requiring precise timing to avoid damage to the cable and the grip mechanism.

Breaks and frays in the cable, which occurred frequently, required the complete cessation of services over a cable route while the cable was repaired. Due to overall wear, the entire length of cable (typically several kilometres) would have to be replaced on a regular schedule. After the development of reliable electrically powered trams, the costly high-maintenance cable car systems were rapidly replaced in most locations.

Cable cars remained especially effective in hilly cities, since their nondriven wheels would not lose traction as they climbed or descended a steep hill. The moving cable would physically pull the car up the hill at a steady pace, unlike a low-powered steam or horse-drawn car. Cable cars do have wheel brakes and track brakes, but the cable also helps restrain the car to going downhill at a constant speed. Performance in steep terrain partially explains the survival of cable cars in San Francisco. However, the extensive cable car system of Chicago operated over a large relatively flat area.

Former second generation cable tractor, used between 1978 and 2005, assisting a tramcar on the cable section of the Opicina Tramway in Trieste, Italy.

The Opicina Tramway in Trieste operates a hybrid funicular electric system. Conventional electric trams are operated in street running and on reserved track for most of their route. However, on one steep segment of track, they are assisted by cable tractors, which push the trams uphill and act as brakes for the downhill run. For safety, the cable tractors are always deployed on the downhill side of the tram vehicle.

Electric trams were first experimentally installed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, invented and tested by Fyodor Pirotsky as early as 1880. These trams, like virtually all others mentioned in this section, used either a trolley pole or a pantograph, to feed power from electric wires strung above the tram route. Nevertheless, there were early experiments with battery-powered trams but these appear to have all been unsuccessful. The first trams in Bendigo, Australia, in 1892, were battery-powered but within as little as three months they were replaced with horse-drawn trams. In New York City some minor lines also used storage batteries. Then, comparatively recently, during the 1950s, a longer battery-operated tramway line ran from Milan to Bergamo.

Another was by John Joseph Wright, brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright, in Toronto in 1883. Earlier installations proved difficult or unreliable. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train, limiting the voltage that could be used, and providing electric shocks to people and animals crossing the tracks.[13] Siemens later designed his own method of current collection, from an overhead wire, called the bow collector.

First type of Mödling and Hinterbrühl tramcars, bipolar overhead line

In 1883, Magnus Volk constructed his 2 feet (610 mm) gauge Volk's Electric Railway along the eastern seafront at Brighton, England. This two kilometer line, re-gauged to 2 feet 9 inches (840 mm) in 1884, remains in service to this day, and is the oldest operating electric tramway in the world. The first tram for permanent service with overhead lines was the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram in Austria. It began operating in October 1883, but was closed in 1932.

The first electric street tramway in Britain, the Blackpool Tramway, was opened on 29 September 1885 using conduit collection along Blackpool Promenade. Since the closure of the Glasgow Corporation Tramways in 1962, this has been the only first-generation operational tramway in the UK, and is still in operation in a modernised form.

Sarajevo had the first electric trams on the continent of Europe, with a city-wide system in 1885.[15]Budapest established its tramway system in 1887, and this line has grown to be the busiest tram line in Europe, with a tram running every 60 seconds at rush hour (however Istanbul's line T1, with a minimum headway of two minutes, probably carries more passengers – 265,000 per day). Bucharest and Belgrade[16] ran a regular service from 1894.[17][18]Ljubljana introduced its tram system in 1901 – it closed in 1958.[19]

On 29 December 1886 the Melbourne newspaper The Argus reprinted a report from the San Francisco Bulletin that Mr Noble had demonstrated a new 'motor car' for tramways 'with success'. The tramcar 'exactly similar in size, shape, and capacity to a cable grip car' had the 'motive power' of gas 'with which the reservoir is to be charged once a day at power stations by means of a rubber hose'. The car also carried an electricity generator for 'lighting up the tram and also for driving the engine on steep grades and effecting a start'.[20]

Comparatively little has been published about gas trams. However, research on the subject was carried out for an article in the October 2011 edition of "The Times", the historical journal of the Australian Association of Timetable Collectors, now the Australian Timetable Association.[21][22][23][24]

A tram system powered by compressed gas was due to open in Malaysia in 2012,[25] but as of January 2015[update] there was no evidence of anything having happened; news about the project appears to have dried up.

Although Portland, Victoria promotes its tourist tram[26] as being a cable car it actually operates using a hidden diesel motor. The tram, which runs on a circular route around the town of Portland, uses dummies and salons formerly used on the extensive Melbourne cable tramway system and now beautifully restored.

Two Trams in Braunschweig, Germany. The left one is a 1981 high-floor tram, the right one a 2007 low-floor

The latest generation of light rail vehicles is of partial or fully low-floor design, with the floor 300 to 360 mm (11.8 to 14.2 in) above top of rail, a capability not found in older vehicles. This allows them to load passengers, including those in wheelchairs, directly from low-rise platforms that are not much more than raised footpaths/sidewalks. This satisfies requirements to provide access to disabled passengers without using expensive wheelchair lifts, while at the same time making boarding faster and easier for other passengers.

Various companies have developed particular low-floor designs, varying from part-low-floor (with internal steps between the low-floor section and the high-floor sections over the bogies), e.g. Citytram[27] and Siemens S70, to 100% low-floor, where the floor passes through a corridor between the drive wheels, thus maintaining a relatively constant (stepless) level from end to end of the tram.

Prior to the introduction of the Škoda ForCity,[citation needed] this carried the mechanical penalty of requiring bogies to be fixed and unable to pivot (except for less than 5 degrees in some trams) and thus reducing curve negotiation. This creates undue wear on the tracks and wheels.

Passengers appreciate the ease of boarding and alighting from low-floor trams and moving about inside 100% low-floor trams. Passenger satisfaction with low-floor trams is high.[28]

The Ultra Low Floor or (ULF) tram is a type of low-floor tram operating in Vienna, Austria as of 1997 and in Oradea, Romania, with the lowest floor-height of any such vehicle. In contrast to other low-floor trams, the floor in the interior of ULF is at sidewalk height (about 18 cm or 7 inches above the road surface), which makes access to trams easy for passengers in wheelchairs or with baby carriages. This configuration required a new undercarriage. The axles had to be replaced by a complicated electronic steering of the traction motors. Auxiliary devices are installed largely under the car's roof.

Articulated trams, invented and first used by the Boston Elevated Railway in 1912–13[29] at a total length of about twelve meters long (40 ft) for each pioneering example of twin-section articulated tram car, have two or more body sections, connected by flexible joints and a round platform at their pivoting midsection(s). Like articulated buses, they have increased passenger capacity. In practice, these trams can be up to 53 metres (174 ft) long (such as in Budapest, Hungary), while a regular tram has to be much shorter. With this type, the articulation is normally suspended between carbody sections.

In the Škoda ForCity, which is the world's first 100% low floor tram with pivoting bogies, a Jacobs bogie supports the articulation between the two or more carbody sections. An articulated tram may be low-floor variety or high (regular) floor variety. Newer model trams may be up to 72 metres (236 ft) long and carry 510 passengers at a comfortable 4 passengers/m2. At crush loadings this would be even higher.[30]

Double decker trams were commonplace in Great Britain and Dublin Ireland before most tramways were torn up in the 1950s and 1960s.

New York City's New York Railways experimented in 1912 with a Brill double deck Hedley-Doyle stepless center entrance car, nicknamed the "Broadway Battleship," a term that spread to other large streetcars.[31]

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia made extensive use of double decker trams. Arguably the most unusual double decker tram used to run between the isolated Western Australian outback village of Laverton and its small suburb of Gwalia.

Tram-train operation uses vehicles such as the Flexity Link and Regio-Citadis, which are suited for use on urban tram lines and also meet the necessary indication, power, and strength requirements for operation on main-line railways. This allows passengers to travel from suburban areas into city-centre destinations without having to change from a train to a tram.

It has been primarily developed in Germanic countries, in particular Germany and Switzerland. Karlsruhe is a notable pioneer of the tram-train.

Since the 19th century goods have been carried on rail vehicles through the streets, often near docks and steelworks, for example the Weymouth Harbour Tramway in Weymouth, Dorset.[32] Belgian vicinal tramway routes were used to haul agricultural proeduce, timber andcoal from Blégny colliery while several of the US interurbans carried freight. In Australia, three different "Freight Cars" operated in Melbourne between 1927 and 1977[33] and the city of Kislovodsk in Russia had a freight-only tram system consisting of one line which was used exclusively to deliver bottled Narzan mineral water to the railway station.[34]

Today, the German city of Dresden has a regular CarGoTram service, run by the world's longest tram trainsets (59.4 metres (195 ft)), carrying car parts across the city centre to its Volkswagen factory.[35] In addition to Dresden, the cities of Vienna and Zürich currently use trams as mobile recycling depots.

At the turn of the 21st century, a new interest has arisen in using urban tramway systems to transport goods. The motivation now is to reduce air pollution, traffic congestion and damage to road surfaces in city centres.

One recent proposal to bring cargo tramways back into wider use was the plan by City Cargo Amsterdam to reintroduce them into the city of Amsterdam. In the spring of 2007 the city piloted this cargo tram operation, which among its aims aimed to reduce particulate pollution in the city by 20% by halving the number of lorries (5,000) unloading in the inner city during the permitted timeframe from 07:00 till 10:30. The pilot involved two cargo trams, operating from a distribution centre and delivering to a "hub" where special electric trucks delivered the trams' small containers to their final destination. The trial was successful, releasing an intended investment of €100 million in a fleet of 52 cargo trams distributing from four peripheral "cross docks" to 15 inner-city hubs by 2012. These specially built vehicles would be 30 feet (9.14 m) long with 12 axles and a payload of 30 tonnes (33.1 short tons; 29.5 long tons). On weekdays, trams are planned to make 4 deliveries per hour between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and two per hour between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. With each unloading operation taking on average 10 minutes, this means that each site would be active for 40 minutes out of each hour during the morning rush hour. In early 2009 the scheme was suspended owing to the financial crisis impeding fund-raising.[36]

Specially appointed hearse trams, or funeral trolley cars, were used for funeral processions in many cities in the late 19th and early 20th century, particularly cities with large tram systems. The earliest known example in North America was Mexico City, which was already operating 26 funeral cars in 1886.[37] In the United States, funeral cars were often given names. At the turn of the century, "almost every major city [in the US] had one or more"[37]:93 such cars in operation.

In Milan, Italy, hearse trams were used from the 1880s (initially horse-drawn) to the 1920s. The main cemeteries, Cimitero Monumentale and Cimitero Maggiore, included funeral tram stations. Additional funeral stations were located at Piazza Firenze and at Porta Romana.[38] In the mid-1940s at least one special hearse tram was used in Turin, Italy. It was introduced due to the wartime shortage of automotive fuel.[39]

A number of systems have introduced restaurant trams, particularly as a tourist attraction. This is specifically a modern trend. Systems which have or have had restaurant trams include Adelaide, Australia; Bendigo, Australia; Brussels, Belgium; Christchurch, New Zealand;[41]Melbourne, Australia; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; Turin, Italy; and Zurich, Switzerland.

These type of vehicles are particularly popular in Melbourne where three of the iconic "W" class trams have been converted to restaurant trams. All three often run in tandem and there are usually multiple meal sittings. Bookings often close months in advance.

Bistro trams with buffets operate between Krefeld and Düsseldorf in Germany,[42] while Helsinki in Finland has a pub tram. Frankfurt, Germany has a tourist circle line called "Ebbelwei-Express", in which the traditional local drink "Apfelwein" is served.[43]

Munich tram No.24, delivered in 1912, was refurbished as a mobile library in 1928. Known as "Städtische Wanderbücherei München", it was in public service until 1970. It was preserved and is now on public display in a railway museum in Hannover.[44]

After World War Two, in both Warsaw and Wrocław, Poland, so-called trams-nurseries[45] were in operation, collecting children from the workplaces of their parents (often tram employees). These mobile nursuries either carried the children around the system or delivered them to the nursery school run by transport company.[46]

Most systems had cars that were converted to specific uses on the system, other than simply the carriage of passengers. As just one example, the Melbourne system used or uses the following "technical" cars : a Ballast Motor, Ballast Trailers, a Blow Car, Breakdown Cars, Conductors and/or Drivers' Instruction Cars, a Laboratory Testing Car, a Line Marking Car, a Pantograph Testing Car, Per Way Locomotives, Rail Grinders, a Rail Hardner Loco., a Scrapper Car, Scrubbers, Sleeper Carriers, Track Cleaners, a Welding Car, a Wheel Transport Car and a Workshops Locomotive.[33]

There are two main types of tramways, the classic tramway build in the early 20th century with the tram system operating in mixed traffic and the later type which is most often associated with the tram system having its own right of way. Tram systems that have their own right of way are often called light rail but this does not always hold true. Though these two systems differ in their operation their equipment is much the same.

Supercapacitors: an insulator at a track switch may cut off power from the car for a few feet along the line and use a large capacitor to store energy to drive the subway car through the insulator in the power feed.[47]

CzechTatra T3 – 14,113 units sold worldwide make it one of the highest-selling types of tram.

Throughout the world there are many tram systems; some dating from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. However a large number of the old systems were closed during the mid-20th century because of such perceived drawbacks as route inflexibility and maintenance expense. This was especially the case in North American, Australian, British, French and other West European cities. Some traditional tram systems did however survive and remain operating much as when first built over a century ago. In the past twenty years their numbers have been augmented by modern tramway or light rail systems in cities that had discarded this form of transport.

Tramways with tramcars (British English) or street railways with streetcars (American English) were common throughout the industrialised world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but they had disappeared from most British, Canadian, French and US cities by the mid-20th century.[48]

Since 1980 trams have returned to favour in many places, partly because their tendency to dominate the roadway, formerly seen as a disadvantage, is now considered to be a merit. New systems have been built in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Australia and many other countries.

In Milan, Italy, the old "Ventotto" trams are considered by its inhabitants a "symbol" of the city.

The longest single tram line in the world is the 68 km (42 mi) Belgian Coast Tram, which runs almost the entire length of the Belgian coast.

Historically, the Paris Tram System was, at its peak, the world's largest system, with 1,111 km (690 mi) of track in 1925, before its complete destruction in the 1930s. The next largest system appears to have been 857 km (533 mi), in Buenos Aires before the 1960s. The third largest was Chicago, with over 850 km (530 mi) of track,[53] but it was all converted to bus services by the late 1950s. Before its decline, the BVG in Berlin operated a very large network with 634 km (394 mi) of route. Before its system started to be converted to trolleybus (and later bus) in the 1930s, the first-generation London network had 526 km (327 mi) of route in 1934.[54]

During a period in the 1980s, the world's largest tram system was in Leningrad (now known as St. Petersburg), USSR, and was included in Guinness World Records; however Saint Petersburg's tram system has declined in size since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Tramway systems were well established in the Asian region at the start of the 20th century, but started a steady decline during the mid to late 1930s. The 1960s marked the end of its dominance in public transportation with most major systems closed and the equipment and rails sold for scrap; however, some extensive original lines still remain in service in Hong Kong and Japan. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the tram with modern systems being built in Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.

The Northern and Central areas of the City of Colombo in Sri Lanka had an electric Tram Car system (42" Gauge). This system commenced operations about 1900 and was discontinued by 1960. Other countries with discontinued tram systems include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan and Vietnam. However, a tram system is planned for construction in Gwadar, Pakistan where construction started in late 2011. In China the cities of Beijing, Zhuhai, Nanjing and Shenzhen are planning tram networks for the future.

The first Japanese tram line was inaugurated in 1895 as the Kyoto Electric Railroad. The tram reached its zenith in 1932 when 82 rail companies operated 1,479 kilometers of track in 65 cities. The tram declined in popularity through the remaining years of the 1930s and during the 1960s many of the remaining operational tramways were shut down and dismantled.

In many European cities much tramway infrastructure was lost in the mid-20th century, though not always on the same scale as in other parts of the world such as North America. Most of Eastern Europe retained tramway systems until recent years but some cities are now reconsidering their transport priorities. In contrast, some Western European cities are rehabilitating, upgrading, expanding and reconstructing their old tramway lines. Many Western European towns and cities are also building new tramway lines. Whereas most systems and vehicles in the light rail sector are being found in Eastern Europe; in the 1960s and 1970s, LRV systems were shut down in many places in Western Europe and urban transportation has been experiencing a sustained long running revival since the 1990s.[56]

In most North American cities, streetcar lines were largely torn up in the mid-20th century for a variety of financial, technological and social reasons. Exceptions included Boston, New Orleans, Newark, Philadelphia (with a much shrunken network), Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Toronto. Pittsburgh had kept most of its streetcar system serving the city and many suburbs until severe cutbacks on 27 January 1967, making it the longest-lasting large-network US streetcar system,[citation needed] though Pittsburgh's surviving streetcar lines were converted to light rail in the 1980s.

San Francisco's Muni Metro system is the largest surviving streetcar system in the United States, and has even revived previously closed streetcar lines such as the F Market & Wharves heritage streetcar line.

Today, trams can be found in Melbourne (by length, the world's largest system), and to a lesser extent, Adelaide; all other major cities having largely dismantled their networks by the 1970s. Sydney reintroduced its tram in 1997 on a modern light rail network, while Ballarat reintroduced their trams as a heritage system. Bendigo also has a heritage system. In 2008 and 2009, the Bendigo Tramway Co. Ltd. conducted trials utilising their heritage trams for regular public transport. Portland, Victoria introduced a tourist tram in 1996 - this uses a former Melbourne cable car dummy and trailer car, but utilising a hidden diesel motor. A completely new publlic transport system opened on the Gold Coast, Queensland on 20 July 2014. The new system is known as the G:link and is the first tram/ light rail system in Queensland,Australia since Brisbane closed their tram network in 1969. As from March 2014, the Sydney line was extended to Dulwich Hill, with a further extension planned for Circular Quay, as well as plans for a small system in the Sydney southern suburbs. There are also plans for the reintroduction of trams in Perth and Hobart, and for another completely new system in Canberra. (Ironically, Walter Burley Griffin's 1912 prize-winning design for Canberra envisioned an extensive tram system.[62])

A distinctive feature of many Australian trams was the early use of a lowered central section between bogies (wheel-sets). This was intended to make passenger access easier, by reducing the number of steps required to reach the inside of the vehicle. It is believed that the design first originated in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the first decade of the 20th century. Cars with this design feature were frequently referred to as "drop-centres". Trams for Christchurch and Wellington built in the 1920s with an enclosed section at each end and an open-sided middle section were also known as boon cars, but did not have the drop-centre. Trams built since the 1970s have had conventional high or low floors.

New Zealand's last public transport tramway system, that of Wellington, closed in 1966. Nevertheless there had been tramways ranging from large, comprehensive systems to single lines, in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Invercargill, Napier, New Plymouth, Greymouth, Westport, Hokitika, Ross, Brighton, Charleston, Kamiere and Kamara. An unusual feature of New Zealand's trams was the diversity of gauges. The 15 systems utilised no less than five gauges, thus making swapping of rolling stock from system to system, a bit of a challenge.[63] Christchurch has subsequently reintroduced heritage trams over a new CBD route, but the overhead wiring plus some track was damaged by the earthquake of 2011. In November 2013 a limited circuit was reopened. Auckland has recently introduced heritage trams into the Wynyard area, near the CBD, using former Melbourne trams as no operable former Auckland cars are believed to exist. A heritage line exists in Queen Elizabeth Park on the Kapiti Coast, running through open countryside.

In Medellín, Colombia, there is a tram line under construction and the opening schedule is for December 2011.[64]Bogota, Colombia used to have a very extensive tram system until the violent events of the Bogotazo in 1948.[65]

All transit services, except personal rapid transit, involve a trade-off between speed and frequency of stops. Services that stop frequently have a lower overall speed, and are therefore less attractive for longer trips. Metros, light rail, monorail, and bus rapid transit are all forms of rapid transit, which generally signifies high speed and widely spaced stops. Trams are often used as a form of local transit, making frequent stops. Thus, the most meaningful comparison of advantages and disadvantages is with other forms of local transit, primarily the local bus.

Consistent market research and experience over the last 50 years in Europe and North America shows that car commuters are willing to transfer some trips to rail-based public transport but not to buses. Typically light rail systems attract between 30 and 40% of their patronage from former car trips. Rapid transit bus systems attract less than 5% of trips from cars, less than the variability of traffic.[69]

Steel wheels on steel track create about one-seventh as much friction as rubber tyres on bitumen, thus creating dramatically less pollution when carrying the same load.[70][71]

Unlike omnibuses, but like trolleybuses, (electric) trams give off no exhaust emissions at point of use.

Since the beginning, many trams have been bidirectional (i.e. driver cabs at both ends) and most new trams being built (particularly by the major universal manufacturers) are bidirectional. The major advantage of a bidirectional tram over a unidirectional vehicle (tram or bus) is that stub terminals are used rather than turning loops, allowing a major saving in rail infrastructure and sometimes-expensive real estate. A few tram systems, particularly in North America, still employ unidirectional vehicles.

Compared to motorbuses the noise of trams is generally perceived to be less disturbing.[citation needed] (However, the use by some trams of solid axles with wheels fixed to them can cause slippage between wheels and tracks when negotiating curves. This produces a characteristic squeal.)

Trams can run on renewable electricity without the need for very expensive and short life batteries.[69]

They can use overhead wire set to be shared with trolleybuses (a three wire system).

The existence of a fixed route gives people confidence in the robustness and long-term future of the system, allowing them to rely on it and build their lifestyles around it. A bus route could be cancelled at any time, but a tram line is far less likely to close down.

Some trams can adapt to the number of passengers by adding more cars during rush hour (and removing them during off-peak hours). No additional driver is then required for the trip in comparison to buses.

Multiple entrances allow trams to load faster than suburban buses, which tend to have a single entrance. This, combined with swifter acceleration and braking, lets trams maintain higher overall speeds than buses, if congestion allows.[72]

The trams' stops in the street are easily accessible, unlike stations of subways and commuter railways placed underground (with several escalators, stairways etc.) or in the outskirts of the city center.

Rights-of-way for trams are narrower than for buses. This saves valuable space in cities with high population densities and/or narrow streets.

Trams can trackshare with mainline railways, servicing smaller towns without requiring special track as in Stadtbahn Karlsruhe and at greater speed than buses.

Passenger comfort is normally superior to buses because of controlled acceleration and braking and curve easement. Rail transport such as used by trams provides a smoother ride than road use by buses.

Because the tracks are visible, it is easy for potential riders to know where the routes are.

Because trams run on rails, the ride is far more comfortable than that of a rubber-tyred bus. Blemishes in the road surface are less noticeable.

Tram infrastructure (such as island platforms) occupies urban space at ground-level, sometimes to the exclusion of other users.

The capital cost is higher than for buses, even though a tramcar usually has a much longer lifetime than a bus.

Trams can cause speed reduction for other transport modes (buses, cars) when stops in the middle of the road do not have pedestrian refuges, as in such configurations other traffic cannot pass whilst passengers alight or board the tram.

When operated in mixed traffic (street running), trams are more likely to be delayed by disruptions in their lane. Buses, by contrast, can sometimes manoeuver around obstacles. Opinions differ on whether the deference that drivers show to trams—a cultural issue that varies by country—is sufficient to counteract this disadvantage.

Sign warning cyclists of tram tracks

Tram tracks can be hazardous for cyclists, as bikes, particularly those with narrow tyres, may get their wheels caught in the track grooves.[73] It is possible to close the grooves of the tracks on critical sections by rubber profiles that are pressed down by the wheelflanges of the passing tram but that cannot be lowered by the weight of a cyclist. If not well-maintained, however, these lose their effectiveness over time.[citation needed]

When wet, tram tracks tend to become slippery and thus dangerous for bicycles and motorcycles, especially in traffic.[73][74] In some cases, even cars can be affected.[75]

Steel wheel trams are noisier than rubber-wheeled buses or trolleybuses when cornering if there are no additional measures taken (e.g. greasing wheel flanges, which is standard in new-built systems). In older trams, the wheels are fixed onto axles so they have to rotate together, but going around curves, one wheel or the other has to slip, and that can cause loud squeals. A related improvement is rubber isolation between the wheel disc and the rim, as used on Boston (Massachusetts, US) Green Line 3400 and 3600 series cars. These cars are much quieter than those with solid metal wheels. (This construction requires a flexible cable to electrically connect the tyre to the wheel body.)[citation needed]

Trams usually have less effective suspension systems than buses, which tends to negate the ride quality benefits of steel rails.[citation needed]

The opening of new tram and light rail systems has sometimes been accompanied by a marked increase in car accidents, as a result of drivers' unfamiliarity with the physics and geometry of trams.[76] Though such increases may be temporary, long-term conflicts between motorists and light rail operations can be alleviated by segregating their respective rights-of-way and installing appropriate signage and warning systems.[77]

Rail transport can expose neighbouring populations to moderate levels of low-frequency noise. However, transportation planners use noise mitigation strategies to minimize these effects.[78] Most of all, the potential for decreased private motor vehicle operations along the trolley's service line because of the service provision could result in lower ambient noise levels than without.

In the event of a breakdown or accident, or even roadworks and maintenance, a whole section of the tram network can be blocked. Buses and trolleybuses can often get past minor blockages, although trolleybuses are restricted by how far they can go from the wires. Conventional buses can divert around major blockages as well, as can most modern trolleybuses that are fitted with auxiliary engines or traction batteries. The tram blockage problem can be mitigated by providing regular crossovers so a tram can run on the opposite line to pass a blockage, although this can be more difficult when running on road sections shared with other road users or when both tracks happen to be blocked. On extensive networks diversionary routes may be available depending on the location of the blockage. Breakdown related problems can be reduced by minimising the situations where a tram would be stuck on route, as well as making it as simple as possible for another tram to rescue a failed one.

Exclusive right of way (by law, or by physical exclusion) today can also be achieved by other modes of transport, which may claim to have a lower cost for a new system (like ULTrapersonal rapid transit). Dedicated busways with diesel or electric buses can support commuter services (such as Bus à Haut Niveau de Service in Paris, and BHNS High Level Service Bus in UK) with features (such as Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid MetroStyle) similar to new trams. New technologies have blurred the previously rigid lines among traditional rail services, traditional bus services, and private cars, with new hybrid mode systems under development. Experimental vehicles, such as China's straddle bus promise new capabilities and flexibility not seen in traditional systems.

From time to time a strange vehicle drew near to the place where they stood—such a vehicle as the lady at the window, in spite of a considerable acquaintance with human inventions, had never seen before: a huge, low, omnibus, painted in brilliant colours, and decorated apparently with jingling bells, attached to a species of groove in the pavement, through which it was dragged, with a great deal of rumbling, bouncing, and scratching, by a couple of remarkably small horses. Published in 1878, the novel is set in the 1840s, though horse trams were not introduced in Boston till the 1850s. Note how the tram's efficiency surprises the European visitor; how two "remarkably small" horses sufficed to draw the "huge" tramcar.

Henry James also makes comical reference to the novelty and excitement of trams in Portrait of a Lady (1881):

Henrietta Stackpole was struck with the fact that ancient Rome had been paved a good deal like New York, and even found an analogy between the deep chariot-ruts traceable in the antique street and the overjangled iron grooves which express the intensity of American life.[79]

A quarter of a century later, Joseph Conrad described Amsterdam's trams in chapter 14 of The Mirror of the Sea (1906): From afar at the end of Tsar Peter Straat, issued in the frosty air the tinkle of bells of the horse tramcars, appearing and disappearing in the opening between the buildings, like little toy carriages harnessed with toy horses and played with by people that appeared no bigger than children.

In episode 6 (Hades) of James Joyce's Ulysses (1918), the party on the way to Paddy Dignam's funeral in a horse-drawn carriage idly debates the merits of various tramway improvements:

- I can't make out why the corporation doesn't run a tramline from the parkgate to the quays, Mr Bloom said. All those animals could be taken in trucks down to the boats.

- Yes, Mr Bloom said, and another thing I often thought is to have municipal funeral trams like they have in Milan, you know. Run the line out to the cemetery gates and have special trams, hearse and carriage and all. Don't you see what I mean?

– O that be damned for a story, Mr Dedalus said. Pullman car and saloon diningroom.

– A poor lookout for Corny [the undertaker], Mr Power added.

– Why? Mr Bloom asked, turning to Mr Dedalus. Wouldn't it be more decent than galloping two abreast?[80]

In his fictionalised but autobiographical Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, published in 1930, Siegfried Sassoon's narrator ruminates from his hospital bed in Denmark Hill, London, in 1917 that "Even the screech and rumble of electric trams was a friendly sound; trams meant safety; the troops in the trenches thought about trams with affection."[81]

Danzig trams figure extensively in the early stages of Günter Grass's Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum). In the last chapter the novel's hero Oskar Matzerath and his friend Gottfried von Vittlar steal a tram late at night from outside Unterrath depot on the northern edge of Düsseldorf. In a surreal journey, von Vittlar drives the tram through the night, south to Flingern and Haniel and then east to the suburb of Gerresheim. Meanwhile, inside, Matzerath tries to rescue the half-blind Victor Weluhn (who had escaped from the siege of the Polish post office in Danzig at the beginning of the book and of the war) from his two green-hatted would-be executioners. Mazerath deposits his briefcase, which contains Sister Dorotea's severed ring finger in a preserving jar, on the dashboard "where professional motorman put their lunchboxes". They leave the tram at the terminus and the executioners tie Weluhn to a tree in von Vittlar's mother's garden and prepare to machine-gun him. But Matzerath drums, Weluhn sings, and together they conjure up the Polish cavalry, who spirit both victim and executioners away. Matzerath asks von Vittlar to take his briefcase in the tram to the police HQ in the Fürstenwall, which he does. The latter part of this route is today served by tram route 703 terminating at Gerresheim Stadtbahn station ("by the glassworks" as Grass notes, referring to the famous glass factory).[82]

The Stompin' Tom Connors song "To It And At It" mentions a man who "can't afford the train, he's sittin' on a streetcar, but he's eastbound just the same". And his song "TTC Skidaddler" makes reference to a TTC Streetcar driver: "I've been a streetcar driver now about eleven years and I know the old Toronto city well, There's a whole lotta people who wait along the track, For the signal from my clangin trolley bell...".

Tramway is is a contemporary visual and performing arts venue located in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Based in the former Coplawill Glasgow Corporation Tramways depot in the Pollokshields area of the South Side, it consists of two performance spaces and two galleries, as well as offering facilities for community and artistic projects. It is claimed to be one of the leading venues of its type in Europe.[85]

A major feature of Spencer Street railway station, Melbourne from 1978 to 2005 was the giant Cavalcade of Transport mural, measuring 7 by 38 metres (23 by 125 ft). It was financed by the Victorian state government, and painted by Harold Freedman. It features all forms of transport used in Victoria from 1835 to 1978, with trams feauring prominently. A horizontal column of trams shows the progression of vehicle design, with some dozens of trams being illustrated. In 2000, during a revamp and renaming of the station to Southern Cross railway station, part of the mural was removed. It was taken down completely in 2005 and, after a cleaning, was in 2007 relocated to Spencer Outlet Centre, adjoining the railway station.[citation needed]

A sculpture of tram 1040, the last numbered of Melbourne's iconic "W" class trams was unveiled at the corner of Flinders and Spencer Streets, Melbourne, in October 2013. The sculpture is the work of local artist David Bell.[86] It can be viewed from a number of tram routes, and is just one block from Southern Cross railway station.[87]

Alfred Hitchcock was a well-known rail enthusiast with a particular interest in London trams. An overwhelming majority of his films include rail and/or tram scenes, in particular The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train and Number Seventeen. Often, when the scene and take numbers appeared on a clapperboard during filming, Hitchcock would translate them into London tram route numbers; for example, if Scene 23, Take 2, appeared on the clapperboard, he was wont to whisper: "Woodford; Wimbledon" (the termini of Routes 23 and 2).[88]

The central plot of the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit involves Judge Doom, the villain, dismantling the streetcars of Los Angeles.

Malcolm, an Australian film about a tram enthusiast who uses his inventions to pull off a bank heist. There are many scenes of Melbourne trams, as well as models of Adelaide trams and (at the end of the film) scenes showing Lisbon trams.

The 1953 British film, Genevieve is about vintage cars and, more particularly, the eccentricities of the car owners. The second part of the movie is about an unauthorised race between Brighton and London Bridge by the film's two leads, played by John Gregson and Kenneth More. After many trials and tribulations, the hero (Gregson) eventually wins the race when the wheels of More's car gets stuck in the tram tracks and he moves in entirely the wrong direction, just before reaching the Bridge.

A lithographic transer porcelain plate commemorating the launch of the first trams in Moscow and Nizhni Novgorod, in 1896-99. Decorated with a tram running on an overhead electric cable, the plate also shows a building with an onion-shaped dome. Designed by Vitaly Vlasoff. Imperial Porcelain Factory, St Petersburg, 2006.

The predominance of trams (trolleys) in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City gave rise to the disparaging term trolley dodger for residents of the borough. That term, shortened to "Dodger" became the nickname for the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers).

In March 1864, well-known Australian musician and composer Isaac Nathan was hit and killed by a Sydney horse tram. Nathan is reputed to be the first tram fatality in the Southern Hemisphere.[91]

On the morning of 18 August 1901, four masked men, described as "urban bushrangers", held up an eastbound horse tram in Riversdale Rd, Hawthorn, Melbourne, just past Power St. For their trouble the men received £2.10.0 in fares from driver Thomas Taylor, and £21.19.0 from eight passengers. One passenger was injured. The bandits were never caught. Contemporary newspapers hypothesised that the bandits were after a specific commuter who travelled regularly on this particular tram and who was in the habit of carrying large amounts of cash.[92][93]

In the Tottenham Outrage in 1909, two armed robbers hijacked a tram and were chased by the police in another tram.

On 7 June 1926 Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí was knocked down by a Barcelona tram and subsequently died.

It is reputed that in the 1930s a murdered body was dragged out of the Thames River in London. The body had been stripped of anything that might have identified him. The only clue to the person's identity was a portion of a tram ticket hidden in the lining of his coat. The local police did not recognise the ticket but images in newspapers led to it being identified as a Melbourne tram ticket. Serendipitously, the serial number on the ticket was in tact. Victoria Police in Melbourne, acting as agents for The Met in London, contacted the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board. From the serial number, the M&MTB were able to tell which tram depot had issued the ticket, on what day and on which specific tram, and in which section of a particular route (North Balwyn). Police then interviewed regular commuters and discovered the identity of a man whom, they believed, had recently travelled to London. This led to the arrest and conviction of the murderer. Decades after the event, the M&MTB were still citing the incident in training courses as a reason for tram conductors, etc., to keep proper and efficient records.

Model trams are popular in HO scale (1:87) and O scale (1:48 in the US and generally 1:43,5 and 1:45 in Europe and Asia). They are typically powered and will accept plastic figures inside. Common manufacturers are Roco and Lima, with many custom models being made as well. The German firm Hödl[94] and the Austrian Halling[95] specialize in 1:87 scale.[96]

A model tramway

In the US, Bachmann Industries is a mass supplier of HO trams and kits. Bowser Manufacturing has produced white metal models for over 50 years.[97] There are many boutique vendors offering limited run epoxy and wood models. At the high end are highly detailed brass models which are usually imported from Japan or Korea and can cost in excess of $500. Many of these run on 16.5 mm (0.65 in) gauge track, which is correct for the representation of 4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) in HO scale as in US and Japan, but incorrect in 4 mm (1:76.2) scale, as it represents 4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm). This scale/gauge hybrid is called OO scale. O scale trams are also very popular among tram modellers because the increased size allows for more detail and easier crafting of overhead wiring. In the US these models are usually purchased in epoxy or wood kits and some as brass models. The Saint Petersburg Tram Company[98] produces highly detailed polyurethane non-powered O Scale models from around the world which can easily be powered by trucks from vendors like Q-Car.[99]

In the US, one of the best resources for model tram enthusiasts is the East Penn Traction Club of Philadelphia [100] and Trolleyville a website of the Southern California Traction Club.[101]

It is thought that the first example of a working model tramcar in the UK built by an amateur for fun was in 1929, when Frank E. Wilson created a replica of London County Council Tramways E class car 444 in 1:16 scale, which he demonstrated at an early Model Engineer Exhibition. Another of his models was London E/1 1800, which was the only tramway exhibit in the Faraday Memorial Exhibition of 1931. Together with likeminded friends, Frank Wilson went on to found the Tramway & Light Railway Society[102] in 1938, establishing tramway modelling as a hobby.

^Tess Kalinoski (2014-09-08). "TTC’s Spadina launch inspires streetcar envy on other lines". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2014-09-08. Normally, the Bombardier plant produces one light rail vehicle (LRV) every three weeks, said spokesperson Marc Laforge. That’s not happening while a strike at the company’s Thunder Bay plant is in its eighth week. Once production resumes, however, Bombardier can accelerate its schedule to three LRVs a month. The two sides are back in bargaining, and Bombardier will discuss a revised delivery schedule with the TTC, he said.

^Kim Brown (2014-08-31). "New TTC streetcars make their debut". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2014-09-08. Torontonians taking the Spadina streetcar might have noticed something different when they stepped on board today. That’s because the Toronto Transit Commission has finally launched the first of its new streetcars.

^Charles S. McCaleb, Rails, Roads & Runways: The 20-Year Saga of Santa Clara County's Transportation Agency, (San Jose: Santa Clara County Transportation Agency, 1994), 67. Besides recounting statistics and anecdotes, this source also reprints a San Jose Mercury News cartoon of one such accident, in which a bemused tow truck driver quips, "Dang! Rod Diridon was right! The trolley does reduce the number of vehicles on the road!"

^The chapter Die letzte Straßenbahn oder Anbetung eines Weckglases (The last tram or Adoration of a Preserving Jar). See page 584 of the 1959 Büchergilde Gutenberg German edition and page 571 of the 1961 Secker & Warburg edition, translated into English by Ralph Manheim

Mr. Nathan was a passenger by No. 2 tramway car […] [he] alighted from the car at the southern end, but before he got clear of the rails the car moved onwards […] he was thus whirled round by the sudden motion of the carriage and his body was brought under the front wheel.

Hilton, George W. 1997. "The Cable Car in America: A New Treatise upon Cable or Rope Traction As Applied to the Working of Street and Other Railways", Revised Edition (ISBN 0-8047-3051-2). Stanford (CA), US: Stanford University Press.